I think you are right, Scott, about Welles having some fun here. The first thing I thought of when I read your comment about home being important was "Rosebud!" That's the whole theme of Citizen Kane.

I find Welles fascinating. He would definitely be invited to my 3-people-living-or-dead dinner.

What a voice. They don't make voices like that anymore.

My understanding is that the Kane script was almost entirely the work of Herman Mankiewicz ... and there was bad blood between Welles and Mankiewicz, especially as regards the writing credits on the movie. So perhaps Welles' brushing off of the Rosebud device is his way of diminishing Mankiewicz? Though I don't know who came up with the Rosebud idea.

In any case, Welles' place in film history would be solid even without Citizen Kane -- Touch of Evil is undeniable genius which helped launch the French New Wave, among other things.

Scott,

Great find on the video. Welles is of course noted for referring to Rosebud as "dollar-book Freud." I think he obviously saw the dramatic and structural importance of the device. I just think he found it too simplisitc an explanation and regreted the widely accepted interpretation that Rosebud explains EVERYTHING in Kane's life.

Say hello to my friend Marianne Gingher there are UNC.

Eddie Bowen